Conference misery::feline_v1

401.0. "GIFTED CATS" by PUZZLE::CORDESJA () Thu Nov 20 1986 13:51

    THE FOLLOWING IS AN ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN THE SAN JOSE MERCURY
    NEWS ON NOVEMBER 20,1986.  IT IS REPRODUCED HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION.
    I ENJOYED IT AND I HOPE YOU WILL TOO.  THE WRITER IS DIANE WHITE
    OF THE BOSTON GLOBE.         
    
    As gifted cats go, mine has the title wrapped up
                                             by Diane White
    
    
    
         My cat is gifted.  To begin with, he's bilingual.  He refuses to
    respond to two languages.
         I've tried to reason with him in English and in Spanish, and
    he ignores me in both.  I'm thinking of asking someone to tutor
    us both in French.  There's no reason he couldn't learn to ignore
    me in a third language.  He's so smart.
         He's unusually sensitive, too.  Anyone who knows anything at
    all about giftedness in cats will tell you that's a sure sign a
    cat has above average intelligence.
         My cat invariably seems to know what my mood is and exactly
    how to take advantage of it.  It's uncanny.  Sometimes I think he
    even may be psychic.
         For example, when I'm absolutely exhausted, when I'm too tired
    to move, he chooses precisely that moment to claw the furniture
    to shreds.
         Some people might say, well, a truly gifted cat wouldn't do
    that, a really gifted cat would be trained not to misbehave.
         This is one of the biggest misconceptions about gifted cats,
    that they're wellbehaved.  On the contrary.
         In fact, the best-behaved cats are often the dullest, the least
    gifted.  Oh, that doesn't mean they're not lovable, that a person
    can't be proud of them.  They're just not gifted like my cat.
         Experts on feline giftedness have known for years that the
    more a cats misbehaves, the more he "acts out", the more impossible
    he is to control, the more gifted he is likely to be.
         My cat, then, is clearly some kind of genius.
         The experts say it's important not to stifle a gifted cat's
    creativity in any way.  So I try to remind myself that he's a genius
    when he clinbs into the kitchen cabinets and pushes dishes onto
    the floor just to watch them break.
         I try to remeber when he wakes me up in the middle of the night
    and wants to play catch.
         Sometimes it's not easy to deal with him, but nobody ever said
    having a gifted cat would be all beer and skittles.  It's a tremendous
    responsibilty.
    
         Some people are so unsympathetic.  Just the other day, a friend
    said to me, "Oh, your cat is no smarter than my cat."  A lot she
    knows.  She's probably envious because my cat is so clever and her
    cat is just average. 
         Frankly, I'd rather my cat didn't play with her cat.  It's
    important for him to be around cats who are his intellectual equals,
    not ordinary cats who'll drag him down to their level.
         There's a real danger that a gifted cat who spends time with
    less-intelligent cats will feel constrained to hide his unusual
    abilities and act like "just another cat."  I can't let this happen;
    not to my cat.
         Some people ask me why I spend so much time with my cat.  Leave
    him alone, they say.  If he's so smart, he'll do fine on his own.
    But this simply isn't true.  It's just another of the many myths
    about feline giftedness.
         The gifted cat needs to be challenged if he's going to develop
    his potential.  So I challenge him constantly.
         Get down from there!  What do you think you're doing?  Leave
    that alone!  Day and night I find myself challenging him.  I hope
    it eventually pays off.
         I do my best to encourage his special interests.  Mostly he
    enjoys "paws on" activities like catnip mouse play, screen door
    climbing and potted-plant destruction.  Lately, though, he has
    developed a serious interest in bird-watching.  He does it for hours.
    So I'm helping him compile his life list.
         Sometimes I wonder what my cat would be like if he hadn't been
    lucky enough to live with someone like me, someone able to recognize
    his special gifts and help him make the most of them.
         I hope he knows I'm only doing it for his own good.
    
                  
    I HOPE THE REST OF YOU ENJOYED THIS AS MUCH AS I DID!
    
    JO ANN